Daily Devotion – May 5, 2020 – Roy Hammerling
Psalm 96
“Let the heavens be glad. . . the earth rejoice. . . Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy before the Lord. . .”
All Heaven and Nature Sing for Joy!
CS Lewis in his autobiography, Surprised by Joy, notes that all he really wants in life is joy. The problem is that he seeks temporary joys they only make him happy for a moment. In the end, however, true Joy is a matter of loving in a way that your own joy matters not a wit, but the Joy of making another happy is all. It is like wandering lost in a forest, says Lewis, when suddenly you come on a signpost that points you home. It would be absurd to be so happy at the sign that you hugged it and stayed there. Every joy in life always points beyond itself to that great Joy, our true home, where our Joy is in loving others for their own and God’s sake. During these troubled days, we can still rejoice in God our Savior, who was born in our hearts and who comes as a babe who is Joy itself, and we along with the heavens and nature cannot help but sing for Joy, because he is our all in all.
Prayer: Come, baby Jesus, and be our Joyous delight. Come this blessed morn and be, our light, our all, our home respite. Amen.
Prayer Concerns: For those who have no others on this day. May they have Joy.
